Quebec passes Bill 96

Employers take note: Quebec has passed Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec.

This imposes new requirements, on top of old ones, when it comes to the workplace and the French language.

For instance, any offer of employment, transfer or promotion by an employer must be drawn up in French.

French must also be used in written communications, even after termination of the employment relationship, with staff or any association of workers representing staff.

And any documents around conditions of employment, employment application forms and training must also be in French.

Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis of the changes in Quebec from Canadian HR Reporter.

‘Work environment free of discrimination’

The new law also sets out the obligations for employers to respect that employees have a right to carry on their activities in French.

“Every employee is granted the right to a work environment free of discrimination or harassment related to the use of French or to claiming a right arising from the Charter of the French language. Employers are required to take all reasonable means to avoid requiring a person to have knowledge of a language other than French to obtain or keep a position,” says the government.

The new law also introduces various measures to extend francization to businesses employing 25 or more persons. This concerns francization committees and francization programs, and introduces other provisions relating to the establishment of French language learning services.

Back in November, Quebec added over 30 new occupations that will be eligible for simplified processing under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

And in August 2021, Ottawa announced it would help Quebec youth get a good start on their careers by investing up to $36.7 million through the Fédération des chambres du commerce du Québec to create work placements for post-secondary students.